Optimal defense of a distributed data storage system against hackers’ attacks

Abstract

Distributed data storage systems are widely used to store data with the development of big data and cloud computing. Due to the complicated network environment, the data may risk being destroyed or stolen by an intentional hacker. In order to mitigate the risk of data destruction and data theft, this paper studies the joint optimization of data parts allocation and computers protections to defense a distributed data storage system in order to maximize the system reliability. The whole data is divided into multiple data parts, where copies of each part can be made and allocated onto different computers. Two different cases are considered, where all data parts on a computer will be destroyed in the first case and all data parts on a computer will not only be destroyed but also stolen in the second case, if the computer is intruded by the hacker. The system is reliable if the defender still has all data parts and the hacker does not obtain all data parts. For both cases, the system reliability is evaluated by extending the universal generating function technique. Numerical examples are carried out to illustrate the applications.